The Baptism of Our Lord Jesus Christ
Genesis 1: 1–5 / Psalm 29 / Acts 19: 1–7
/ Mark 1: 4–11
This is the homily prepared for St. John’s,
Huntingdon, Pennsylvania by Fr. Gene Tucker for Sunday, January 10, 2021.
“WHAT DO WE REMEMBER?”
(Homily
text: Mark 1: 4-11)
Each and every one of us carries with us certain
memories and memorable events, things that have happened to us as we’ve made
our way through life. These memories and the events connected to them have the
power to shape our lives, and they have the power to fashion what the future
might look like. Of course, it goes without saying that memories and events can
be both positive and negative.
In this sense, then, memories and the events
connected to them have the power to “re-member” for us. That is to say, they
“put together again as if it were the first time” (an original meaning of the
word) the power of the original event.
Now, moving into the sphere of faith, let’s ask ourselves
this question: “How much can I remember about my baptism, and how much do I
remember about my faith journey and my coming to the point of believing?”
The question is an appropriate one, for on the
First Sunday after the Epiphany each year, we hear and consider the account of
our Lord Jesus’ baptism by John the Baptist. (This year, since we are in Year B
of our three-year lectionary cycle, we hear Mark’s account of that event.)
Both events, our baptisms and our faith journey,
have the power to “re-member” (to put together again just like the first time) our
lives in the present and in the future.
I suspect that most of us can’t remember our
baptisms, because, again, many of us were baptized as infants or as very young
children. To remember that event, we must rely on the witness of those who were
there: Parents, Godparents and friends and relatives. Of course, it’s a
different story entirely if we were baptized at a later time in life, a time
when we were aware of things and when we had the ability to experience and
recall things that have come our way. In such cases, it’s likely that we had
already come to faith (or, at least some measure of faith) before we’d made the
decision to be baptized.
Having mentioned faith, it should be clear that
faith and baptism are connected. In truth, we can’t have one without the other,
not really. Those who were baptized at a later time in life have already made
the connection, as we said a moment ago. Those who were baptized as infants or
as very young children have a different journey of faith, for they come to know
the Lord personally (which is the goal of each path where baptism and faith are
concerned) after their baptisms. It’s for this reason that the baptismal rite
asks the parents, Godparents and others to make solemn promises to God that
they will do their part to bring up the child they are presenting for baptism
to come to know the Lord, so that when the time comes for that young person to
come to faith, they’ll have all the tools necessary to do so. Absent the faith
component, baptism simply becomes an empty rite, something we do just because
we’ve always done it. In such cases, baptism is robbed of its power to shape
our walk with God.
“Re-membering” is key, if we are to allow the power
of something as wonderful as baptism, and as wonderful as our coming to faith
in the Lord, things that happened in the past, to carry us forward into the
future.
Where baptism is concerned, the essential meaning
of the Sacrament can assist us as the Holy Spirit (whom, we believe is given in
a unique way in baptism) guides and enlightens us. Baptism signifies a death
and a rising to new life. (See St. Paul’s explanation of this in Romans 6: 3–9.)
Water is the outward and visible sign in the Sacrament of baptism. Water has
the power to destroy life, but water is also essential for life to exist, so
it's a perfect agent to carry the meaning of baptism. Water also has the power
to cleanse, another aspect of baptism.
“Re-membering” will be a more difficult process for
those of us who have to rely on the witness of others who were present at our
baptisms, if we are to capture and re-capture the significance of being
baptized. But we can still appropriate its meaning for us, if we will remember
that we’ve said “goodbye” to things that are not of God in life, in order to
greet with joy the fullness of life as God intends for each and every person.
For, in truth, true joy, true meaning in life can only be found when we have a
lively and ongoing love affair with God through Jesus Christ.
“Re-membering” is a daily activity, one we
consciously engage in, reaching back into our life’s history to see God at
work, as God reshapes and molds us more and more, over time, into His image and
likeness. In this process, we say “goodbye” to ungodly things, in order to
embrace the godly things that our Lord wishes for us. At times, this will be a
struggle, for though we’ve passed through the waters of baptism, and though
we’ve been forgiven of the stain of original sin (another meaning of baptism),
we are still living life in this life, which means we’ve subject to the pull
and the attraction of ungodly stuff in the world, stuff that surrounds us
daily.
May the Holy Spirit, given in a special way at
baptism, guide, protect, enlighten and empower us to “re-member” our baptisms,
for we’ve passed from death into life.
AMEN.
